It Was Those Damn Stairs!
by xtremekiiwii
Summary: AU HxK Kurama never sleeps because of his Insomnia, but attends school anyway. Hiei, the new student at school saves the redhead when he passes out down a flight of stairs. He thought he’d never see the boy again, but fate apparently doesn’t think so.
1. You Dont Look So Good

Summary; Kurama never sleeps because of his Insomnia, but attends school anyway. Hiei, the new student at school saves the redhead when he passes out down a flight of stairs. He thought he'd never see the boy again, but fate apparently doesn't think so. HxK.

Disclaimer; Everything is of the creation of Yoshihiro Togashi-sama. Everything but the plot, of course.

Ever since I read this story about a guy with Insomnia, I've seen it everywhere! I spotted another story about Kurama with Insomnia and this idea popped up in my head. I hope you enjoy!

- - -

"You don't look so well."

Shiori woke to the smell of breakfast for the fourth time that week. How did Kurama manage to wake so early to do this? It was only five in the morning! Yet, breakfast smelt like it was nearly finished. How did he do it?

Shiori huffed and got out of bed and left the room, grabbing her robes along the way. Wrapping the robe around her waist as she descended the stairs of her home, she found exactly the same scene that's happened in the past three mornings.

Her red-headed son was up and about, preparing breakfast for Shiori, Kazuya, and Shuuichi. It worried her, every morning, Kurama looked more tired than the last and never sat down to eat breakfast with them. She didn't know about his lunch, but doubted he ate any of it and he barely ate his dinner, if not at all.

Kurama's flaming red hair seemed to be flattened a bit and paled in color. Usually it was big and red. Kurama's usually sparkling emerald eyes were dull and green now. His skin was even more pale than usual, if that were even possible. He was so skinny too. She's barely seen her own son anymore. He's always been locked up in his room.

He claims to stay up all night studying, thinking that'll explain his tired look. But Shiori knew that wasn't the answer. Kurama has never told her anything any more. She's known he's had trouble sleeping, but she thought it was a minor thing, a bit too stressed maybe. He did go to one of those smarty-pants schools where they expect work, work, work.

But in truth, Kurama hasn't slept in four days. He hasn't eaten in two. He knew this was unhealthy, but it happened anyways. Ever since he was twelve, he's had trouble sleeping.

On that fateful night, Kurama had decided to go out and hang out at his friend Yuusuke's house to play videogames and what not. But on his way there, he was pulled into black car that was parked along the sidewalk. He went missing for a full two months.

They found him washed up against a river shore, his body bloody and bruised. He had nothing on him except scars, fresh wounds and purple, blue, and yellow bruises all across his skin. Ever since that day, he's never been the same.

He barely eats or sleeps. Shiori doesn't even think she's seen him smile or has heard him laugh ever since that night before he left. Kurama always kept an emotionless face on. If you were lucky, you'd catch emotions of sadness, anger, or just plain calm, which was always, apparently, but never the bubbly mood of happiness.

No matter what they did, it never brought out the happiness that was locked away. Kurama did the usual morning routine. He got up and made breakfast, once Shiori came down and found him, he'd leave the food in the pans and go back into his room to get ready for school, ignoring his mother's call of, "Kurama? Are you O.K. honey? You don't look so good."

It takes him a long time to make it look like he's slept. With the dark circles under his eyes, it's hard to hide, but with his long red hair, it makes it easier to hide. He got dressed into his school uniform; black slacks, a white button down shirt, and his own touch of a black jacket. He knew his clothes looked kind of emo-ish, but it matched his mood and he kept at it.

After he scrubbed his face enough to make sure he didn't look as tired, he dried it with a towel and checked the time. 6:48AM. He shrugged and grabbed his bag, leaving to school without even saying bye to his family.

All Shiori could do was say, "Have a nice day at school," like every morning, but she was always too late for the door closed before she was half-way through and he was long gone. She looked out the window and saw him riding his old spring-green bicycle down the street and a small frown was planted upon her face as he lost control of the bike a bit before fixing himself and riding off, out of sight.

- - -

Hiei Jaganshi looked up at the high school building with a scowl on his face. The school looked too cheery. Looking at the small piece of paper with a map in his hands, he made sure that this was the school he was to be attending for the year. Just the sight of the groups of giggling girls, laughing jocks, and smiling nerds all made him want to puke out his breakfast, last night's dinner, and his guts all together.

He hated the school already.

He was just about to step past the school gates when a fast blob of red, pale green, and black brushed past him. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he snapped his head up and saw what looked like a girl with long crimson hair riding a bike riding away. He was about to step-up and yell at her when she seemed to have really lost control of the bike and fell off, the bike and her body flying in opposite directions.

A boy with brown, gelled back hair detached himself from a group of students and went to help the girl. Dirt, leaves, and grass were all caught in her hair as the boy helped her up. That's when Hiei noticed that she was actually a he.

He hated this school even more. Or rather, he hated the red-headed boy. Why, he didn't know. He just did. That was the rule in the world of Hiei. If he hated someone, he hated them, end of question. Hiei scoffed at the scene and walked by it all and into the school building.

He pulled out another map from his pants pocket, this one of the school. He hated moving from one side of the country, to the other. It was just plain annoying. All these maps, all these new things to remember. He's probably moved about five times in the last two years with his sister Yukina and grandmother Genkai. Hiei never understood exactly why they moved, but just went with it.

He walked to the principles office and knocked on the door. "Come in," came a gruff voice and Hiei did just that.

Principle Enma took one look at Jaganshi and knew at that he wasn't going to like this kid. He looked like on of those trouble makers, with the half buttoned shirt and black tank top underneath and a headband over his forehead. It looked like a gang member.

Not a good year for the old principle it seemed.

- - -

Kurama had taken the long way through a small forest to school. But it must've been too long because when he checked the time it was 7:16AM. He had promised his friend, Yuusuke that he'd show up at school at exactly 7:00AM, half an hour before school started. Yuusuke was going to be so pissed off. Kurama cursed under his breath and peddled off towards the school as fast as his mechanical piece of crap could take him.

He was so tired; his day without sleep finally catching up to him, and his bike was like a thousand years old by now. It felt like it was going to crumble underneath him. He swore his bike was his metal death trap.

Luckily for him, he was almost there; his bike was starting to give out. He spotted the school gates ahead. Perfect. But suddenly his bicycle decided to jerk to the side and Kurama's eyes widened as there was a black-haired boy directly in his path.

_"Oh, shit!" _he screamed mentally and turned his bike forcefully enough so that he just brushed past the boy. He looked back at the boy. He looked back at the boy and he looked really pissed. But he had no time to worry about that random guy as he felt the bike begin to crumble.

It seems that the bolt that secured the front wheel to the front end of the bike together had popped out. His green eyes widened again as the wheel came tumbling off and he flew off his bike. He threw the bicycle off to the opposite side and landed onto the ground with an, "Oof!"

"The bike was in a metal heap and Kurama lay there in the grass, dirt and leaf covered. He winced and held his head, still lying on the ground. He felt someone sit by him and hold his hand. He turned his head to find Yuusuke sitting there.

"Hey Kurama. You don't look so good, feeling alright?" Yuusuke asked.

Kurama shrugged.

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?"

"Both," Kurama said and looked off to the side.

Yuusuke helped Kurama sit up. "Now tell Dr. Yuusuke what's up with his favorite redhead," Yuusuke said and Kurama giggled. This was really the only time he smiled and laughed. Around Yuusuke.

"First off, hurt anything?" Yuusuke asked.

Kurama shook his head.

"Sleep last night?"

Kurama didn't do anything but look down at the grass.

"Eat?"

The redhead's head lowered.

"Kurama, you've got to sleep! You've got to eat!" Yuusuke cried.

Only Yuusuke knew of the terrible curse that has befallen over Kurama ever since he was found on the side of the river when he was twelve. Only Yuusuke knew of his Insomnia and possible Anorexia.

A small sob escaped Kurama's throat and tears began to stream down his pale cheeks. His emotions always run ramped when he was around Yuusuke. He hated this!

Why did those men take him away when he was only twelve? Why did they do all those things to him? Why did Yuusuke feel like he had to take all the blame? Why did Kurama enjoy it when Yuusuke held and comforted him like this?

Yuusuke allowed Kurama to lie on his chest as he cried out on his chest. This was all he needed. He needed comfort. He needed love.

- - -

Principe Enma was not the youngest of principles. In fact, he was more along one of the oldest principles in the Japanese School System. He was serious, with brown graying hair, mustache, and beard. He had one son, young Kai Enma. Most people just call Kai Enma "Koenma" because it's a lot easier to say and it sounded just about the same. He disliked many things.

Including trouble makers.

So he was most certainly surprised when he had found out that Hiei had no bad markings on his permanent record. Hiei was a straight "A" student at all three of his previous high schools, and caused no trouble at all. He was the perfect student any school could have. Best in this school now, sitting next to top test-scorer Kurama Minamino.

The redheaded genius always surprised Mr. Enma. No matter how many lessons he's missed by falling asleep in his classes, he's always gotten perfect grades and scores. Though never the best attendance, some may say. He could be late to school or just plain absent. Usually he was sick, a lot. The school never knew why.

Principle Enma was just about finished. Hiei had already missed homeroom and first period was starting. Hiei was missing it because of Mr. Enma's ranting about the school's history and how proud he was to have Kurama Minamino in his high school, whoever the hell that was.

After one annoyed sigh that had slipped out of Hiei's mouth, Mr. Enma had abruptly shut up. He gave Hiei his schedule and explained some of the rules of the school. Finally, Hiei was set free. His first period was English class.

When he first stepped in, the first thing he noticed was that there were three boys gathered around one desk. Or rather, two boys, the brown-haired one from that morning and a big and bulky carrot-top, were sitting around, talking, and poking the sleeping redhead on the desk. Now you could really see the dark circles underneath his eyes.

Hiei raised a brow and as if on cue, the brown-haired boy turned to glare at him. Wow, that was freaky.

Hiei threw his own death glare at the brunette. He scoffed and turned away, back to the redhead and stroked his crimson mane. It looked so smooth and silky… Hiei shook the thoughts from his head. No. He didn't even know anything about the guy except for the fact that if he keeps that damned bicycle that someone it going to possibly die.

The raven-haired boy gave his pass to the teacher and she signed the slip. She pointed to a seat that was directly behind the redheaded teen. Even if the boy was still asleep, the teacher was going to start class anyway.

She got up and took role.

"Kuwabara Kazuma?"

"Yo," called the carrot-topped boy called and leaned back in his seat.

"Minamino Kurama?"

"He's here, just sleeping," the brown-haired boy still, sitting next to who Hiei guessed to be Kurama.

"Thank you, Yuusuke," the teacher said. Yuusuke smiled and held a thumbs up, "No problem Ms. Yakimachi." Ms. Yakimachi smiled at them and continued on with role call. After she announced that they were having free period, she came over to Yuusuke and leaned down to whisper to him. Hiei just caught it.

"Still watching over Kurama, I see," he heard Ms. Yakimachi say. Yuusuke nodded. "I've heard what happened when he was twelve. It's so sad, the country now a days. Please take care of him. He doesn't look so good." "Will do, Miss," Yuusuke said and grinned again.

The teacher walked away and what they said bounced around in Hiei's head.

What had happened when Kurama was twelve?

- - -

Classes were almost over. Thank the Gods. Hiei was in his Literature class right about now or he was supposed to be. He wasn't skipping, he couldn't get anything bad on his permanent record or Genkai will practically torture him to death. She really cared about education, even if she didn't get a full one herself, her and her martial arts knowledge.

The teacher of his Literature class, Mr. Okizawa, had sent him to the library for some books. Hiei cursed, books weren't his thing. A lot of things weren't his thing actually. Books, water, flowers, bunnies, a lot of things. Another thing that wasn't his thing, redheads. There was no reason though, he just hated redheads.

That's why when coming down from the school library, which just had to be on the damned third floor, he spotted Kurama, and had the sudden urge to just kill something.

But something was up. Kurama wasn't walking straight and began leaning onto the railing too much. He was leaning against the wall now, reaching the steps that lead to the first floor of the school building. Hiei was just getting to the second floor.

Right before Kurama could step onto the steps, he began falling straight down. Hiei's eyes widened and he raced down to catch him, dropping his books along the way. He grabbed the redhead's jacket and pulled him back with too much force and ended up falling back too; Kurama on top of the raven-haired teen.

Hiei grunted and pushed Kurama off his chest and he sat up, the redhead now lying in his lap, un. That just left him with one question.

What the _fuck_ was that all about?

- - -

Sorry if I end up updating months from now! And…

Please review!

-XK


	2. I'm Fine!

Summary; Kurama never sleeps because of his Insomnia, but attends school anyway. Hiei, the new student at school saves the redhead when he passes out down a flight of stairs. He thought he'd never see the boy again, but fate apparently doesn't think so. HxK.

Disclaimer; Everything is of the creation of Yoshihiro Togashi-sama. Everything but the plot, of course.

See? Didn't I tell you I'd update MONTHS from then? Oddly, exactly three months. My computer broke down, so I couldn't get this to you sooner, but here it is! Chapter two! Yay! I honestly thought this chapter seriously sucked, but that's my opinion. Tell me yours!

- - -

He smiled at the darkness that had befallen over him. How long had it been since he's seen this perfect darkness? It was so peaceful. Far too long it seemed. He hasn't seen in so long, it seemed almost alien to him.

Every time he's seen this darkness, it always slipped away too fast for his liking. This time he wanted to keep it. At least for a while longer.

But slowly, the darkness began to fade away once more.

'_No! It's been too long!' _his thoughts cried. His eyes snapped open and the color white was what had greeted him. _'No…'_ He sat up in the bed he found himself in, his thought rushing, and his breaths coming in pants.

Hiei looked up from the floor and towards Kurama. The redhead looked scared as he whipped his head from one side to the other. Now, after seeing him under the hospital lights, Hiei noticed how pale the redhead actually was.

'_He need serious help,' _Hiei thought then shook his head. No. He couldn't think about the redhead. Even if skin looked so soft and his lips so elegant he just wanted to… NO! He didn't know the guy! Agh! _'Why am I even here?' _he asked himself an then he remembered, _'Oh yeah, waiting for that other guy. What was his name? Yuu? Yuki? Saki?' _Hiei struggled to remember the guy's named.

- - -

Yuusuke and Kuwabara rushed to the hospital as fast as they could when the teacher had told them what had happened. Yuusuke was running extra fast. Even faster than he did in Gym, Kuwabara noticed as he struggled to keep up with his friend.

They rushed into the hospital and while Kuwabara stopped to take a breather, Yuusuke went over to the front desk, his breaths still coming in pants.

"May I help you?" the nurse at the desk asked shakily. Yuusuke looked like one of those crazy escaped maniacs.

"Kurama! Minamino Kurama! Is he in?" Yuusuke asked so quickly the nurse almost didn't catch it.

She hurriedly typed in the name into the computer; afraid that is she went any slower that Yuusuke was going to practically strangle the boy's room number out of her.

"Ah… Room 382," she said. Yuusuke nodded and ran off. Kuwabara followed behind as best as he could.

They ran towards the room and slammed the door open, causing to the two beings inside to jump in surprise. Hiei's brows furrowed in anger and he looked at the door. Seeing Kuwabara and Yuusuke, he sighed. Yuusuke walked over to Kurama who was shaking. Hospitals were never for him.

Kurama was Nosocomephobic; he had a fear of hospitals.

Yuusuke hugged the redhead.

Hiei stood, "I'm finished here," he said and walked towards the door.

Before he could get to it, Yuusuke stopped him, "Why is he here?"

"What?" Hiei turned to glare at the boy holding the trembling Kurama.

"What happened to him? What did you do?!" Yuusuke accused.

"Pff! I didn't do anything harmful to him! You shouldn't be accusing me!" Hiei yelled at Yuusuke.

Yuusuke's eyes narrowed, "Why is he here?"

"He fell."

"It's never that simple."

"It's true. He fell down the steps of that damned school."

"Then why are _you _here?"

"I saved him," Hiei simply stated before slamming the door of the hospital room. The raven-haired boy stomped his way down to the hospital's lobby and walked home.

- - -

Yuusuke held Kurama close. Him and his phobia; he started crying and muttering something about needles and blood. Lots and lots of thick, warm, crimson blood.

"Kuwabara," Yuusuke called.

The carrot-topped looked over. His heart felt crushed at the sight of Kurama. He looked so broken.

"Get the doctor. We need to get him out of here," Yuusuke said. Kuwabara nodded and left the room. Yuusuke wiped away at the tears that lined Kurama's pale cheeks. While laying in comfort, Kurama's mind wandered off.

Why did he have to have all these problems? Why couldn't he just have a normal life? He hated it. All the worry and comfort coming towards him. He hated all of it. Except for the worry and comfort that Yuusuke gave. Yuusuke's feelings made Kurama think that those emotions belonged there.

The emotions from Yuusuke felt right. Everyone else's just annoyed the living hell out of the redhead. Everyone else's emotion but Hiei's too, it seemed. Hiei and Yuusuke's emotions seemed right.

When Kurama first woke in the hospital, Hiei had asked if he were alright. That was, of course, after Kurama's minor panic attack. Hiei had explained everything that had happened after Kurama had fainted and Hiei had saved him from falling down the school steps.

"You look like you haven't slept in days!" Hiei had said, not even knowing, nor caring, that it was possibly, and is, true, "You probably fainted from that, and the fact that you're so thin. You're a fucking toothpick!"

Yeah, Hiei was never one for good first-impressions.

But hey, Kurama almost ran him over that morning. Does that belong in "The World's Best First-Impressions" book? Nope. "Hi, I'm (insert name here). I'm the one who almost ran you over with my piece of junk bike! Want to be friends?"

With that, a friendship is going to go one place; down the drain.

Kuwabara finally returned with the doctor. Kurama cringed; doctors, hospitals, everything about those damned medical hell-holes would scare the crap out of him.

"Is there anything wrong?" the doctor asked, looking worriedly at the cringing redhead in Yuusuke's arms.

"When can we take him out of here?" Yuusuke asked.

The doctor stepped into the hallway and grabbed the clipboard that sat in the cubby just beside the door. Strolling back inside, he flipped through the papers.

"He seems to be fine, just some minor bruises. That black-haired boy must've saved him from falling own the steps of the school. According to his story, he," he glanced at Kurama, "was walking and suddenly fainted and nearly fell down the steps. The other boy rushed to catch him. The boy said that he didn't wake up and took him to the nurse. After about half an hour, he still didn't wake up and the nurse called for an ambulance."

Yuusuke looked at Kurama with a questioning look on his face.

"Is it true?" he asked.

Kurama shrugged, "All I remember was coming down from Ms. Yakimachi's room and the steps, nothing else," he said in a small voice.

Yuusuke looked at the doctor, who sighed.

"Fine, fine. These documents say nothing about him needing to stay here, so you're free to go. Just sign-out in the lobby," he said and waved them off, scribbling things onto the sheets.

Once they got outside, Kurama was back to his normal self. Or rather, as normal as he could get. The circles under his eyes looked like packed on eyeliner to some people and they stared with looks that made his friends glare at them. They took one look at Yuusuke and Kuwabara's eyes, they gulped and suddenly had somewhere important to be.

"Kurama? You okay?" Yuusuke asked, falling into step beside the redhead.

"I'm fine…" he trailed off and looked at the park.

"You sure?" Kuwabara said, running right into Kurama's line of vision.

"I said I'm fine!" Kurama snapped and ran off to the park.

- - -

Hiei hung his head back on the bench he sat on and looked at the sky. It was no use going back to school because the day was almost over. He most definitely couldn't go home. Genkai would kill him before he told her that he left early and was not skipping classes. Yukina's private school would be ending in about an hour, so he waited so he could walk home with her.

He sighed and sat up, then leaned on his elbows that he placed on his knees. He scanned the park, boredom evident in his ruby irises. A few adults out to lunch looked at him funny. He flicked them off when they turned their backs. Damn people.

Scanning the park again, he found a certain redheaded person.

'_What's he doing here? Isn't he supposed to be in the hospital?' _he wondered, looking curiously at Kurama.

Along with the dark, tired, bags that lie beneath Kurama's eyes, came the annoyed scowl—a scowl that didn't go so well with the redhead's pretty face. Following the irritated redhead came Yuusuke and Kuwabara.

The carrot-topped teen looked just as annoyed as the Insomniac and like he desperately wanted to just go home. The brunette on the other hand was talking to Kurama as if he were reasoning with him. Kurama just seemed to ignore him like he were a tiny, buzzing, bug and kept stalking away.

It going as so until, Hiei had watched, until the redhead turned around and snapped at the two teens. He stalked off once more, leaving the two stunned high-schoolers alone.

"Hn. There's more to this Kurama character than that of what meets the eye," Hiei smirked.

Hiei hopped off the bench and pretended to casually walk towards and then behind the two boys, just to entertain himself if even for a few short minutes.

"…Why did he snap like that?" Hiei heard the brunette ask the carrot-top.

"Maybe he needs to be left alone," Kuwabara replied.

"But I've been with him since Junior High!"

"Maybe you're too clingy?"

"Wouldn't he have told me instead of snapping?"

Kuwabara shrugged, "Y'know, it's nearing March 23rd, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Yuusuke sighed and Hiei peeked from behind a tree.

"Maybe he's just feeling all odd. It's always like this. If you can remember."

"March 23rd?" he asked him self, maybe a bit too loud he noticed as the two teens turned, glaring, towards him. He jumped back and fell into a thorny bush that waited behind him.

"Fucking Christ!" he yelled and Yuusuke and Kuwabara laughed when an old, and most likely religious, couple turned towards them.

Hiei gave them a death glare and gave them the finger while muttering, "Fuck off, assholes."

"Got quite a mouth on you, don't you, shorty?" Kuwabara asked and laughed again when Hiei pricked his hand on a thorn.

"Y'know, most people don't make it so obvious that their spying on someone," Yuusuke said, helping Hiei out of the mess of leaves and thorns, cutting his thumb on one.

"At least someone has common sense," Hiei huffed and picked the leaves from his mass of hair.

"What's that supposed to mean, shrimp?"

"Exactly what I meant, oaf!"

"Boy, can't I tell you two are going to be the best of friends!" Yuusuke said sarcastically while getting between the two before they got the police involved. "Now that everything is semi-calm, why were you spying on us?" the brunette asked the raven-haired teen.

"I was bored and I saw the redhead walk in here, so I tagged along after he left. What happened March 23rd?" Hiei asked, crossing his arms, telling them in body-language that he wasn't taking any excuses.

Yuusuke sighed, "Can we talk about this later?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I want to know _now_," Hiei said in such a commanding tone that a small shiver skipped up and down along Yuusuke's spine like it was playing hop-scotch on a sidewalk.

"Kurama's going to kill me for this," Yuusuke muttered. "Well, four years back, almost five, when we were all twelve, I invited Kurama over one night to just plain hang-out like normal tweens do. We were just beginning our friendship. Kuwabara was over and we were going to play some videogames, eat, goof-off, and the like. We waited and waited and he never came.

"His mom called my house asking if he were over. I was scared. I told her no, I hadn't seen him and we went out to look for him. We looked all over the neighborhood. No sign of him.

"We put up posters, offered rewards, everything we could, but he didn't pop up. This happened for two months straight. Just when we though he was…d-dead," here he struggled, "me and Kuwabara went to Kurama's favorite spot in the forest; just by the river, and…and then we found him laying there in the river bank," Yuusuke's voice cracked near the end but he kept a strong face.

Kuwabaras hands were in his pocket as he looked at the grass and said, "He was terrible condition. There were cuts and bruises all over his body and his pulse was weak. It was hard calling an ambulance out in the forest. Barely any reception and no street names or familiar buildings to direct them…"

"But we got him in just in time," Yuusuke continued. "He was in a coma for about three days and had amnesia for two weeks until randomly he remembered everything and broke down crying."

"Did you find out anything that had happened?" Hiei asked seriously, curious to the redhead's past. This was weird, because he hadn't like Kurama at first.

"Kurama always said all he could remember was walking to my house when some men dragged him into car and drove off. I always knew he was lying," Yuusuke said quietly.

Hiei sat there quietly then shook the thoughts of what those men possibly did to the redhead. He didn't want to know.

- - -

Thanks for reading. What'd you think? Sorry, again, if it takes a few months to update! Please R&R.

-XK


	3. Leave Me Alone!

Summary; Kurama never sleeps because of his Insomnia, but attends school anyway. Hiei, the new student at school saves the redhead when he passes out down a flight of stairs. He thought he'd never see the boy again, but fate apparently doesn't think so. HxK.

Disclaimer; Everything is of the creation of Yoshihiro Togashi-sama. Everything but the plot, of course.

I took a bit shorter with this one, but I finished it. :) I thought this one was WAY more suckish than the last. But that's just me. Enjoy and please R&R.

- - -

"Leave Me Alone!"

Kurama slammed the front door shut and stalked up the steps, ignoring the call of "Welcome home, sweetie," from his mother who sat in the kitchen drying some dishes. She frowned. Kurama always at least muttered an, "I'm home," before going upstairs. And today he looked annoyed.

She sighed and set down the glass cup she was drying. Wiping her hands on her apron, she left the kitchen and strutted upstairs and knocked on her elder son's door.

"Kurama, dear, are you alright?" she asked quietly through the locked door.

"Leave me alone!" Kurama snapped from the other side. After a stroke of silence he muttered, "I'm sorry, mother." He sounded as if his voice were breaking. "I didn't mean to snap. I…I just had a bad day at school and wish to be alone."

Shiori smiled. At least he still had a sense of manner. "Alright, sweetie, I'll call you down for dinner when it's ready," she cooed and wished she were in her son's room. She could just imagine his head in his arms while he lay on his desk and she just wanted to stroke his hair and tell him everything was alright. But she couldn't because the door was locked. So she returned downstairs to finish making dinner.

Kurama ran his hand over the right side of his face until it was in his hair and he pulled. Tears ran down his face.

"_Why the hell am I crying?"_ he asked himself. He took his other hand, pulling it into a fist; he slammed it on the desk, causing a few pens and papers to jump as if in surprise. After a few more minutes of awful sobbing, he stood up and walked over to his window, sliding it open carefully. He looked outside. His step-father, Kazuya, was home. He could tell because his car was in the drive way. His step-brother, Shuuichi, has stayed after school that day for some project.

He changed into some ratty jeans with holes in the knees and then, slowly, he crawled out the window and reached for the tree just outside his window. The sky was slowly brewing a thunderstorm in an angry gray mass. Kurama ignored the far flashes of lighting that sparked every so often and the low rumbling of the thunder clouds as if they were hungry; a very deep and ominous growling.

Ever so gracefully, he swung his light-weight body through the branched and leaves and landed on the ground, the dry, dead, leaves crunching under his feet in a welcoming tome. He couldn't wait for the thunderstorm to come his way. He felt that the thunderstorm matched his mood today—angry and yet a bit dreary in the midst.

Kurama thought about where he should go. He thought of going to Yuusuke's house. He had left his bag at school and had a strong feeling that Yuusuke had grabbed his stuff before he left. But he knew Yuusuke would be all worried and invite him over to a dinner he wouldn't eat, so he decided not to. It wasn't like he had any homework to complete. So, he settled on going to the park. He wished to be alone and he bet the upcoming storm shooed any wanderers that were left in the place.

- - -

"C'mon, Yukina! Hurry up!" Hiei called to his sister, attempting to shield himself from the rain with a thin binder.

"I'm coming, Oniisan! Ooh!" Yukina called, nearly falling as she ran to catch up with her brother.

Believe it or not, these two teens were brother and sister, twins in fact, though they didn't exactly look like it.

Hiei had big and black gravity defying hair and always wore a scowl on his face. He hated anything cute and cuddly and always wished pain and death to his enemies. His sister was his only friend.

Yukina Jaganshi has long ice-blue hair which was pretty odd to most people. Some said she dyed it, but it wasn't, and Hiei knew. She's had that color of hair her whole life. She loved life and loved a lot of things—kittens, puppies, flowers—anything a little girl would like. She could get friends easily because she was nice and lovely. But sadly she couldn't keep them because she moved a lot.

The only thing the two really had in common was their short size of about 5'2" and their eye color which was a beautiful brown that looked tinted in red.

Hiei grabbed Yukina's hand as soon as she met up with him. "We don't want you getting sick, Yukina. Do you have your umbrella?" Hiei asked.

Yukina nodded and under the protection of Hiei's binder, she dug in her messenger bag a pulled out a bright red umbrella. She opened it up and put it over their heads so that they were both protected from the pouring rain.

"Let's get going," Hiei said. Once Yukina nodded again he muttered, "Damn, why did Genkai have to buy that damn temple on the other side of the town? Come; let's take the short cut through the forest." He led her to the park.

"It's really pretty here," Yukina commented. "We should come back here when the rain stops."

"Sure, but let's focus on getting home now!" Hiei said, yelling at the end as a loud crash of thunder sounded and Yukina squealed. "C'mon!" he yelled, grabbed her hand and ran, not caring if he got wet.

They ran by trees, small gardens, rained-out stands and wet benches. They stopped for a breather by the playground. The playground looked ratty and old. The slide's color was fading from a bright dandelion to a grayish yellow. The paint on the small bridge was chipping and the chains hanging the swings were rusted. There was a young boy on the swing set. He had on ratty-old looking jeans and a black jacket with the hood up. Underneath the jacket it looked like her had on a dress shirt with a tie tied loose. A shadow covered his as he looked down at his feet and the sand.

Hiei couldn't help but think that the boy looked oddly familiar. Sighing, he turned to his sister.

"Ready to go? We're almost there," he said.

Yukina looked up. "Yeah," she said over the pounding rain. "Let's go." This time, she grabbed his hand and led him away, walking.

Hiei looked back and caught the boy sweeping back some of his hair that looked a bit red. It instantly struck him like the lightning miles away.

_"Could it be that kid from earlier?" _He wondered. Then he shook his head, "_It can't be, he left earlier. I saw." _It was then that he decided that he would come back to the park's playground when the rain let up.

Hopefully the boy would still be there.

- - -

Kurama sniffled and rubbed his jacket sleeve over his face to dry it of the rain and tears. Now whose smart idea was it to go out in the pouring rain?

_"Oh yeah, mines." _He sighed and stepped into the park. He quickly jogged over to the old playground in the middle of the park He loved this playground. It was his favorite place to be, besides in sleep. He loved to be in sleep when his mind allowed.

He sat on the swing set. His favorite seat, to be exact—the third one from the left. This was his seat. It said so in the childish handwriting on the underside of the seat in Sharpie marker. It read "Kurama" with a backwards "K." He smiled a little smirk before it was wipe off by a loud crack of thunder and more rain.

Quickly, he snapped his hood over his head. He sat there for a while until he heard panting along with the pattering rain. Kurama raised his eyes ad saw… that guy from earlier.

"What the hell?" he muttered quietly to himself. "What's he doing here?" He kept looking at him. He was with a girl about his height with ice-blue hair holding an umbrella. Suddenly, Hiei looked at him and he snapped his head down lower causing some strands of his hair to fall from their place in the hood of the jacket.

He heard Hiei sigh and looked back up. He had turned to the girl asking, "Ready to go? We're almost there."

The girl looked at him and nodded saying, "Yeah. Let's go." She grabbed his hand and led him away.

Kurama couldn't help but think that that girl was his girlfriend and knot constricted itself in his gut. He clutched his stomach and swept back the hairs that had fallen into his face.

- - -

After a bunch of wrong turns and a couple of right ones, the Jaganshi twins finally made it home. Genkai was out on the porch drinking some warm tea…in the rain. They sure had a weird grandmother. Together, Hiei and Yukina stopped in front of her and bowed, greeting her with, "We're home, Obaasan." Hiei only called his grandmother by her first name when she wasn't around.

"It's disrespectful," Yukina scolded him once, "We should honor Obaasan for what she's done for us."

Hiei just scoffed and Yukina huffed.

Genkai nodded and placed her tea on the small mat on the floor. "Welcome home," she said then nodded.

The two nodded as well, stood up straight and went to their rooms.

Hiei's room was on the far side of the temple and decorated to his liking. The walls were wood as it was a temple and didn't want to disturb the integrity of the place with black paint. Plus, Genkai would slap him if he dare paint the walls black. He had a king sized be with a beautiful red and black comforter and matching pillows. A mat was laid out on the floor and some swords in their sheaths were hung on the wall. A dresser was against one wall while the closet and the attached bathroom against the other.

Hiei threw his bag on the desk next to the door then walked back out. He went to Yukina's room and opened it slightly.

"Yukina?" he asked.

She was sitting at her desk. Their rooms were arranged about the same way, but her room was different colors. The furniture was a pale ivory and the sheets a light blue. She had a big window in the back right above her bed with a lovely view of the stream that flowed behind the temple.

"Yes?" she said, not looking up from the essay she was writing in her beautiful calligraphy.

"I'm going out for a bit. I just wanted to let you know before I left," he replied.

Her head snapped up. "What? In this rain?" she asked, worry evident in her voice. She didn't want her brother to get sick.

"Yeah. The rain is letting up and I'll be fine."

"But—"

Hiei cut her off, "I'll be fine. Finish your homework. I'll be home before dinner. I promise."

She nodded and sighed in defeat.

"Be careful," she muttered and returned to her work.

Hiei smiled in victory and went to attempt to find his grandmother. To no avail, he gave up and wrote a small note and stuck it to the kitchen counter, then set off to the park, where he hoped that boy was still there.

- - -

On his run over there, Hiei began to wonder why he was so worked up about that stranger on the swing set. For all he knew, it could be some rapist or a mad serial killer. Or maybe he could be some psycho maniac hiding in the park because he just escaped from the loony-bin and the men in white uniforms and Anastasia needles ready in their hands are looking for him. Or, or, or… He really needed to stop watching so much television.

Finally, he made it. The park. He jogged through it, looking for the playground and just when he arrived to it, the stranger had gotten up and was walking away.

"H-hey! Wait!" Hiei called, ran towards him and slipped on the damp sidewalk. He slapped himself. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He slapped himself again.

He looked up at the sound of wet foot-steps coming his way. Then his brown-red irises met with the beautiful yet sad sight of dead emerald pupils.

_"So it was him after all," _Hiei noted and scratched out all those earlier possibilities.

The redhead grimaced at the sight of Hiei and Hiei wanted to slap him, but then he asked, "Are you alright?" and held out a hand.

Hiei nodded and grabbed the thin hand, making note of how fragile it felt. He felt scared to hold it for fear of breaking it and almost let go. But he hung on.

"I'm fine, thanks," Hiei said. Kurama nodded and began to walk away, but Hiei's call of "Wait," stopped him.

Kurama turned, "What?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"What happened March 23rd?"

The redhead paled. "I-I'd rather not talk about it," he muttered and began to walk away. Hiei grabbed his thin wrist. Everything about this boy was small and thin and fragile.

"Leave me alone!" Kurama cried.

He looked into Kurama's eyes. They were wide open and he looked fearful. He ignored it and said, "No, I want to know about it. And I want to know now."

- - -

That sucked! Lol. Sorry if it takes a few months to update, again! xD Just please bear with me. Please R&R. :)

-XK


	4. Odd

**Summary;** Kurama never sleeps because of his Insomnia, but attends school anyway. Hiei, the new student at school saves the redhead when he passes out down a flight of stairs. He thought he'd never see the boy again, but fate apparently doesn't think so. HxK.

**Disclaimer;** Everything is of the creation of Yoshihiro Togashi-sama. Everything but the plot, of course.

**Note;** Wow! Less than a month for an update! New record! I couldn't really think of a chapter title for this one. So, yeah. Thank you **Chaseha-Wing** for giving me ideas for this chapter. XD Love you! Enjoy!

- - -

"_Odd…"_

"What?" Kurama asked confused. He didn't even know the guys name! Why should he tell him about his past?

"Tell me what really happened on March 23rd," Hiei commanded, grabbing Kurama's thin wrist.

"N-no!"

"And why the hell not?"

"Who the hell are you, first of all?" Kurama said, yanking his wrist from Hiei's grasp. He wobbled slightly, a spell of dizziness casting over him. He held his head for a bit until it went away.

Hiei was glaring daggers at him. "I'm Hiei, we have damned first period together."

"Ms. Yakimachi's class? How come I didn't see you?" Kurama asked confused.

The raven-haired boy fought the urge to roll his eyes. "That's because you were fucking unconscious. Is all you ever do is sleep?"

Kurama was taken-back. He looked down at his feet, the hood of his jacket falling. "No…" he muttered.

"What?" Hiei asked, his expression softening.

"No. I almost never sleep. But that's all you're getting!" Kurama yelled and turned to begin walking off again. And he would have if another wave of dizziness hadn't come over him and caused him to lean on a nearby tree.

Hiei's mood changed a whole lot then. He can't be mad at someone who's like this. And he had no reason to be mad about anyways. Just because the guy wont tell him about his past? That's one way you are an inconsiderate jerk or a spoiled brat.

Kurama got off the tree and slowly made his way over to the bench and sat down. He was too tired to walk. What drained him of his energy?

Someone sat down next to him.

"Sorry I snapped. Didn't mean to," Hiei muttered, settling his elbows on his knees and looking down as the rain drops hit the ground and caused what looked like a tiny explosion of liquid. It was quite beautiful. "I'm just a jerk."

Kurama didn't expect this. Not one bit. He looked over and took down his hood, letting his crimson mane sprout from its cave. "Jerk? At least you bother talking to me," he said. "Almost no one ever talks to me besides Yuusuke, Kuwa, and Ms. Yakimachi. And Doc said you saved me. No one else would have done that. I bet they would've just let me drop. I seem to always have this expression on that I want to die or something. But I don't want to die. I just want to sleep. I just want to live my life like normal people."

Kurama was surprised. He hasn't even told Yuusuke this. So, why was he telling Hiei? And Hiei seemed to have read his mind.

"Why are you telling me all this?" he asked. "I've only seen you once or twice since we've met."

"I honestly don't know," Kurama replied in a broken tone. "I guess I can just let out my feelings. Yuusuke… If I told Yuusuke what I'm telling you know, he'd feel sorry for me for weeks on end and I would never be able to leave his house until I eat something. Kuwabara wouldn't care. He just seems to tag along because Yuusuke is one of the toughest guys in the school. Or at least he thinks so. He's too conceited. Thinking he can get anyone he wants with no reason why. And he never even bothers. There's a girl, Keiko, who is practically heels over head for him. But he won't budge. I tell him I don't need him all the time. I have no idea why he's still by me."

Hiei's head was spinning. What?

"Sorry," Kurama said and blushed a small blush that was barely noticeable on his pale skin.

"For what?" Hiei asked.

"For throwing this all on you. I'll just go now," Kurama got up once more and tried to leave but them once again, Hiei stopped him.

"Wait."

"Again? What for?"

"You said you need someone to listen to you, right?"

Kurama nodded.

"And you're about as thin as my pinky. How about you come over to my house… er… temple, and you can have some dinner with us?"

The redhead looked unsure.

"Why not? I'm not going to poison you. And Yukina makes the best food you will ever taste."

"_Now, why are you trying so hard to get this guy to come with you?" _Hiei's inner voice asked. _"Are you going to try to get in his pants? Ever hear of date-rape? You can get arrested!"_

Hiei mentally slapped the mini-him in his head for saying that.

"Erm… Fine, I guess," Kurama finally gave in. "Just don't expect me to eat much."

- - -

Kurama was right when he said he wasn't going to eat much. He barely ate at all, thought he had to admit the food was pretty good. After dinner, Hiei insisted that he take a snack and they could talk in his room, but Kurama politely declined. He didn't want to boy to realize his problems. That was all he needed.

"Why didn't you eat much?" Hiei asked the redhead.

"I ate earlier, I guess I just wasn't that hungry," he lied, shrugging on his jacket.

"Okay…" Hiei hummed lightly. Then he held out his hand.

Kurama looked at it questioningly. Didn't shaking ones hand mean a signal of trust? Kurama hasn't trusted anyone for a while. But he had this…odd feeling that he could trust the raven-haired teen. He reached out his hand slowly, unsure. Suddenly he sneezed, covering his face with that hand and turning away.

Hiei muttered a "Bless you."

"S-sorry about that," he said softly and Hiei handed him a tissue.

"Heh, whatever. See you tomorrow," Hiei said

Kurama smiled a small smile and nodded, leaving the temple.

Hiei leaned against the door frame and watched the redhead leave. He sure was an odd guy. He then looked into the sky. You could see the dark clouds against the dark blue of the sky and the white shining stars and hear the soft pattering of the rain. Hiei slightly hoped the redhead didn't get sick. He shook his head after that thought. Whatever.

- - -

Kurama looked up into his room in the late night. It was nearing ten o'clock, so most of the lights in the house were turned off. Only his bedroom and his parent's bedroom lights were shining brightly. There was a low growling in the sky and the redhead grimaced as his hair began to stick to his face.

He went to the tree by his window. Slowly, he made his way up the tree. The moss and wet bark made it difficult to climb up, but the low hanging branches helped him keep hold. But when he was nearly up the tree and reaching towards his window to open it, the branch he had settled in cracked.

His eyes widened in surprise and down he went with the branch, a small cry erupting from his throat. A sharp pain went through his ankle as he landed in the rose bushes his mother lined up along the house. He winced. Ouch, that wasn't very pleasant. He sat there holding his ankle until the pain wore off.

Suddenly, he heard the front door to his home swing open. Kurama trained his neck to see who was there and found that it was his step-father, Kazuya. He must've heard the tree crack and Kurama's cry.

Kurama ducked down in the bushes. He didn't care if the thorns penetrating his skin hurt like hell, he just didn't want the elder male to find out that he had snuck out of the house. After a few agonizing minutes, Kazuya went away.

Slowly the redhead stood up, putting most of his little weight on his left ankle and foot. He scaled the tree as quickly and as carefully as possible as to not hurt his other ankle more than it was. Which was nearly impossible.

It wasn't as though it were broken, he hoped—he could still move it even if he got many sharp shots of angry pain. Probably, it was just a sprain.

He tumbled into his room via window, thankful he conveniently placed his bed near the window for a soft landing. He shed his slightly damp jacket and tossed it to what he hoped was the laundry basket. Then he changed into his flannel pajama pants and t-shirt.

A knock sounded on his door.

"Come in," Kurama answered and Kazuya peeked in.

"Kurama? You alright? I thought I heard a crash outside," the middle-aged man asked.

"I'm alright. It was probably just the thunder," Kurama replied in a smooth voice, not looking at his step-father.

Kazuya sighed. This boy… Never looking at him, never any emotion in his voice; he was like a robot.

"Okay. Well, I was just checking if you were alright. Good night," he said and Kazuya closed the door, not expecting a reply and not getting one.

Kurama coughed a little and covered his mouth with his hand. He hoped he wasn't getting sick. Sighing himself, he lay down on his bed and switched off his bedside lamp.

He stayed awake the whole night again.

- - -

When Shiori woke the next morning, something was off. Way off.

"_Odd…" _she thought.

She got out of bed with a groan and left the room, grabbing her robe along the way. Tying the strap around her waist, she went downstairs.

She was surprised that her son was _not _downstairs that morning. So there was no breakfast cooking. No bacon sizzling on the frying pan. No toast slowly cooking in the toaster. Not one bit of food.

Surprised, she scaled the steps of her home to her son's room. When she opened the door, Kurama was sitting in the middle of his bed, hugging his pillow. He coughed a few times into the pillow, but didn't look up when Shiori entered the room. It didn't even look like he even noticed.

"Kurama," she called out softly.

The redhead jumped and stared wide-eyed at his mother. There were deep purple bags under his eyes.

"Mother? What are you doing in here?" Kurama asked. "I thought you were asleep."

She ignored his question and looked at the bags underneath Kurama's beautiful green eyes. Noticing her gaze, he buried his face in the pillow.

"Please get out," he said.

Slowly, she did.

Kurama kept his face buried in his pillow until he heard his mothers bedroom door shut. Then suddenly, he perked up, slapped his hand over his mouth and ran out into the separated bathroom. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his ankle, he leaned over the porcelain bowl and threw up his stomachs few contents.

Coughing a bit afterwards, he wiped his mouth on a washcloth and downed a glass of water. He splashed water on his face and looked in the mirror, nearly stumbling backwards at the sight.

He was deathly pale and the rings under his eyes were a dark bruise purple. His nose was slightly red.

"_Shit, I think I'm sick."_

- - -

Hiei walked into the school building just as the school bell rang. Five minutes until homeroom. He waltzed over to his homeroom class. Since he didn't come to the room the day before, he noticed he had the brown-haired boy from yesterday with his head in the palm of his hand and his elbow on the desk, staring at the wood. Yuusuke, he thinks his name was.

He sat two seats away from him, throwing his bag on the floor.

Yuusuke's head perked up and he looked at the raven-haired boy. Looking at the teacher, and then looking at the seat behind Hiei, he grabbed his stuff and went to the seat.

He tapped on Hiei's shoulder. When the boy didn't turn, he did it again.

"What?" Hiei snapped and turned around.

"Have you seen Kurama today?" Yuusuke asked, looking at Hiei with hope in his eyes.

Hiei shook his head slowly, "No I haven't. I thought you were with him."

Yuusuke let air out through closed teeth and ran a hand through his hair, "Damn. He's never been absent before, no matter what."

- - -

I'm not going to say I think it sucked, 'cause I do that at the end of every story and chapter. (Thought I very well think so.) Lol. Thank you all who reviewed including, **Chaseha-Wing**, **BlackRoseTenshi**, and **chrono-contract**. Love you all and please bear with me if the next chapter takes forever. Thank you, please R&R, love you, and bye-bye! :)

-XK


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